Rice Economies Technology and Development in Asian Societies

Name: Rice Economies Technology and Development in Asian Societies
Price: 6.82 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780520086203

ISBN-10: 0520086201

ISBN-13: 9780520086203

Edition: 1994

Authors: Francesca Bray

List price: $30.95

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The contrast in the rate of growth between Western and Eastern societies since 1800 has caused Asian societies to be characterized as backward and resistant to change, though until 1600 or so certain Asian states were technologically far in advance of Europe.The Rice Economies, drawing on original source materials, examines patterns of technological and social evolution specific to East-Asian wet-rice economies in order to clarfiy some general historical trends in economic development.

Book details

List price: $30.95
Copyright year: 1994
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication date: 5/3/1994
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 271
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 0.80" tall
Weight: 0.990



List of figures and tables


Chinese dynasties


Japanese eras


Preface


Acknowledgements


Maps


Introduction


Eurocentric models of historical change


An alternative model


The significance of a model of development for rice economies



The rice-plant: diversity and intensification


The origins of Asian rice


Natural characteristics of rice


Selection techniques



Paths of technical development


Building new fields


Raising yields


Labour productivity and the mechanisation question



Water control


Water control and institutions: the debate


A technical classification of water control systems


Gravity-fed irrigation networks


Ponds, tanks and reservoirs


Contour canals


'Creek' irrigation


Pump irrigation schemes


Patterns of growth and change



Rice and the wider economy


'Skill-oriented' and 'mechanical' technologies


The specificity of wet-rice agriculture


Uniformity and systemic change


Monoculture and markets


Economic diversification


Petty commodity production and rural industrialisation



Development


Some basic issues


Labour and capital


The historical experience: the predominance of labour and the 'Japanese model'


Choice of technological inputs


Capital investment


Productivity of labour and capital


Expertise and participation



Peasant, landlord and state: changes in relations of production


Conflict, cooperation and control


Historical changes in relations of production


'Feudal' relations and frontier zones


Smallholder economies: expansion and stagnation


Egalitarianism or differentiation: the impact of capitalism


Land and landlessness


'Land to the tiller'


Group farming


Socialist land reform



The Western model



The historical experience of China



The Japanese experience


Notes


References


Glossary


Index